Cup-filling device



1931- E. A. MENNINGER ETAL 5 6 cur FILLING osvrcz 9 Filed March 7. 1925 2 Sheets-Shoot 2 Patented Jan- 27, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- nnwann a. MENNINGEB m wanna a. 'rnomrsox, or cnvonnwrr, 0310; am

MENNINGEB ASSIGNOB, BY HESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

A COB-POBA'IION OI OHIO mo COMPANY, 01' CINCINNATI, OHIO,

'10 THE TOHPAI MANUFACTUR- cur-rmnnse nnvrca Our invention relates to devices used more particularly in filling cups with measured uantities of liquid, or measured quantities of ood products such as mustard, preserves or condiments. It especially relates to the .100 cream industry, in which cups are filled with a given quantity of ice cream, or mixtures of several kinds of ice cream, while in pasty condition of partial congealing, said cu s bemg then placed in a refrigerator to solidi y.

There are many expensive machines fpr filling cups, the particular object of our invention, but these machines are ve expensive, and are large and bulky. Also w en used for y ice cream and it is desired to change the quantity and roportions of ice cream or when it is desire to change the cups for d fferent products, expensive changes are required, in such machines.

Our invention is provided to take the place of expensive mechanisms, while providing for multiple cup filling in a rapid manner, with accurate measurement of quantity in the cups. Our mechanism is a hand device as distinguished from an automatic device, but accomlishes like objects and is well adapted to the 108 cream business.

Our structure is applicable for filling allsizes of cups and all kinds of products, but it will be found particularly useful for retail merchants who purchase a small uantity of ice cream or make their own and w 0 then require a convenient device for use in fillingon s or cartons.

0 objects stated we accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically ointed out, described, and the novelty there- 1n duly claimed. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a single measuring and filling device.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cup pan and one form of cup holding rack.

Figure 3 is a cross section of the device with a single filler pan in use. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the use of two filler devices as required to fill a 80 cup with a mixture of ice cream.

Figure with two filling devices in use.

Figure 6 is a modified form of cup holding device in the form of a removable tra The container or cup pan is in the arm of a box 1, rectangular in shape, although it might be of other convenient shape to correspond with the filler and cup rackor cup tray. 1

rack or tray is not a necessary item and can be omitted, althou h it facilitates han dlmg the filled cups. an open work wire structure, seated in the pan, and having side pieces 2, end handles 3, and raised cross bars 4. The cross bars are soldered to the lengthwise bars 5, which are four in number in the example. The bars 4 and 5 form compartments into each of which cups 6 can be dropped. The rack is arranged so that the tops of the cu s (ta ered cups of paper being the standar article employed) will not pass through the compartments.

Upon lifting out the rack or sliding in the tray all cu s will come with it.

The fillin evice is formed as a cover 7 for the box, aving holes 8, in its upper surface, and flanges 9 to fit over the box. Set

ne form is shown as,

5 is a cross section of the structure into the holes are hollow tubes 10 here cylinders) soldered into the holes an depending from the lid.

A modification of the rack support shown in Fi ure 2 is shown in Figure 6 where the box 1 1s 0 en at one end and has a tray 66 fitting within the box 1'on which the cups may be placed. The box is not used dump the filling but the tra 6b is withdrawn an?! the filler plates set directly in the cups on the tray without the necessity of using the spacm rack.

For filling with a single filter tray the on s are arranged in the rack, or in rows on the tray or on the floor of the tank, where no rack is emplo ed, and the filling device is such that a tube 10 will pass into each cup.

The tubes 10 have cubic contents of the amount desired to place in each cup. The flange or rim 9 of the filler lid structure is omitted at the end 11,so that the operator can Eplur ice cream onto the lid, permitting it to the tubes or cylinders.

5 cream runs into the cups as the filler is lifted,

which results in each cup having a measured quantit of the cream.

Even ift e tubes do not actually touch the bottoms-of the cups, they will still preserve a measuring function, since the cream is thick enough for the bottoms of the cups to fill as the cream is poured on, with the cream sealing the bottoms of the tubes. The tubes can be filled up and the lid lifted to permit the amount therein to drop into the cu s.

Fl'he operation is rapid, and the lid revents cream from dropping elsewhere t an into the cups, while the rim revents loss of cream, exceptat the one en where a. vessel will be located to catch it.

In the ice cream industry caps are placed on the cups before the final freezing is done. We find t at the rack can be used to carry the cups about when filled, and hold them while ca s are set into them. Thus the tank is not i e while the cups are being cap ed. For filling cups with difi'erent kinds of ice cream a modification of the filling device shown in Figure 1 is preferable. Instead of one filling device or plate two filler plates are used, a top plate 7a in which the filling tubes are of small diameter but of sufiicient length to extend to the bottom of the cups. The to late has the flanges 9 omitted and fits flus i tween the flanges of a lower filler plate 11 in which the depth of the filling cylinders 10a is only sufiicient to extend part way into the en Thus in use the two filler plates are place in position over the cups in the box, with the top plates with the narrow long filling tubes extending within the lower plate with the thicker shorter tubes. The ice cream is 5 read over the top plate and a quantit 0 ice cream equal to the solid contents o the tube is filled in each tube. When the top 1plate is removed this measured quantity sm into the cups filling them partly full. Ice cream is then spread on the bottom filler plate and fills the cylinders. These cylinders will extend only to the position in t e cups filled with ice cream by the upper filler plate. Thus durin the period of filling the tubes in the lower p ate, there is no discharge of ice cream into the cups until the plate is removed.

By var ing the length of the filling tubes and the diameter of the filling apertures and using a plurality of filling plates in combination, cups may be filled with any desired quantit of proportionate mixture of products. lso the tubes may be of any other shape and the cups any desired form of container.

We have described but one use of the device in-connection with its operation in filling cups with ice cream, but it should have further application in the arts which will be apparent to those skilled therein.

For filling glasses with jelly or the like, where the material filled is a liquid, it improves the seal between the bottom of the tubes and the glass to surround the bottom of the seal with a resilient collar 12 of rubber or the like, which is illustrated in dotted lines on several of the filling tubes in Figure 1.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character. described, a support for cups, :1 plate to extend across said support having a plurality of holes therein, tubes depending from the holes in said plate, said tubes arranged to enter cups set on the support, and an auxiliary removable plate having a plurality of holes therein and having tubes extending therefrom, sail tubes having such dimensions as will enable them to telescope within the tubes of the first mentioned plate, and extend to the bottom,

of cups to be filled, said last named tubes forming measured quantity filling units for a bottom layer of material, and the first named tubes of such length as to extend part way mto cups to be filled thereby forming measured quantity filling units for upper layers with said cups.

2. In a filling device, a container for retaining a plurality of empty packages to be filled, and a plurality of removable plates each having tubes extending from apertures in the plates, the tubes of one plate adapted to telescope within the tubes of another plate, the inner tubes being of such length as to extend to the bottoms of the packages to be filled, and the outer tubes shorter than the inner tubes so asto extend to the fill level in the packages caused by the discharge of the contents of the inner tubes.

EDWARD A. MENNINGER. WALTER R. THOMPSON. 

